Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Isabella Loader

03/06/1838 –28/05/1922

Daughter of Ashridge park keeper; married George Loader, bootmaker

Relatives

George Loader (403) — husband

Fanny Bamford (402) — sister

Sarah Gash — other

• Jane Dickson

Plot 403 Isabella Loader née Bamford

 Isabella Bamford was born in Ashridge Park on 3^rd June 1838. She was the youngest of the six children of Thomas Bamford and Mary née Cockman and was baptised at St Lawrence’s Church, Nettleden on 1^st July that year. Her father Thomas was Park Keeper of Ashridge Park, working first for Francis Henry Egerton, 8^th Earl of Bridgewater and then, from 1853, for John William Spencer Brownlow Egerton, 2^nd Earl Brownlow. The family lived in Old Park Lodge, Ashridge, which was in the parish of Pitstone, Buckinghamshire. Some later Census records give Isabella’s place of birth as Little Gaddesden.

 Isabella’s siblings were: Mary Ann, born in 1825; Thomas Robert, 1828; Fanny, 1830; Charles, 1832 and Walter, born in 1834.

 The family has not been found in the 1841 Census but in 1851 Isabella was a 12 year old Scholar, living at home in Ashridge Park with her parents, her unmarried sisters Mary Ann, 26 and Fanny, 21, who were both dress makers, and her 17 year old brother Walter. Ten years later she was still single and living with her parents at Old Park Lodge. Both she and Fanny were dress makers while her 27 year old brother Walter was a Park Keeper’s assistant, working with their father Thomas.

 Isabella’s parents, 73 year old Thomas and 68 year old Mary, died within two months of each other in 1863 – Thomas on 8^th January and Mary in early March. Both are buried in Ss Peter and Paul churchyard, Little Gaddesden. Her brother Walter then became Park Keeper at Ashridge. He too was buried in Little Gaddesden after his death aged 65 on 19^th September 1899.

 In the 2^nd Quarter of 1867, Isabella married George Loader, who came from a well-established Berkhamsted family and was born in Berkhamsted on 28^th June 1839. They lived in Berkhamsted High Street and George was a Master Bootmaker employing 7 men. Later Census returns show their address as 205 High Street, next to the Royal Oak. George was a Justice of the Peace and actively involved in the town’s schools, in the life of St Peter’s Church and in the Conservative Party. Isabella and George had no children but Isabella’s sister Fanny lived with them until her death on 18^th October 1904, aged 74. She had worked as a dress maker, certainly into the 1880s, and is buried in Plot 402, next to George and Isabella.

 68 year old George Loader died on 25^th April 1908 after a severe attack of pneumonia. Electoral Register entries confirm that, once widowed, Isabella continued to live at 205 High Street, Berkhamsted. Although her address is recorded as 1 Camilla Terrace in the 1911 Census and her National Probate Calendar entry, this property is listed between 201 High Street and 207 High Street and was recorded as 205 High Street in 1921. From 1911 or earlier, Isabella, by then a lady of private means, employed a General Domestic Servant, Mary Jane Woods.

 Isabella Loader died aged 83 on 28^th May 1922 and was buried in Plot 403 with late husband George on 2^nd June. Her funeral service was taken by William C Stainsby, Rector of St Peter’s. Probate was granted to her nephews Thomas Charles Bamford, a railway clerk, son of her brother Charles and Walter Bamford, a school teacher and son of her brother Walter.

 Isabella’s nephew Thomas Charles Bamford is buried with his mother Mary Elizabeth née Colpman and his sister Florence Bamford in Plot 688 in this cemetery.

George Loader (403)

28/06/1839 –23/04/1908

Master Bootmaker from old established Berkhamsted family.

Relatives

Isabella Loader — wife

Sarah Gash — sister

William Loader — brother

• Jenny Sherwood

George Loader was a member of an old-established family found for generations in Berkhamsted and the surrounding district. George, a cordwainer, could be said to be a worthy representative of local trades people who in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth devoted their lives to public service.

Born in Berkhamsted on 28th June 1839, he was a representative of the first generation to benefit from educational opportunities and had attended the National School at the Court House. His father, also George, was a cordwainer too. The family lived in Castle Street. There was an elder sister, Sarah, who was a dressmaker and a younger brother, John, who was an apprentice carpenter.

By 1861 George senior was a widower, employed five men and one boy. In the spring of 1866 he married Sarah Margrave, schoolmistress at the Bourne Charity School.

In 1867 George Loader junior married Isabella Bamford, born in Little Gaddesden. By 1871, aged 31 he was a master bootmaker employing seven men, in the High Street.

As well as running a successful business in the High Street George was actively involved in the affairs of the town. Both father and son served on the School Board for Berkhamsted – ‘one of the first in rural England’ – set up as a result of the 1870 Education Act.

George Loader died on 25th April 1908 following a severe attack of pneumonia. The Bucks Herald on 25th April reporting his death summarises his various achievements over the years. He had recently been re-elected Chairman of the Berkhamsted Urban District Council (BUDC) after having been Chairman for eight successive years. He had taken an active part in developing and improving the town. He was one of the representative Governors of Berkhamsted School appointed by the BUDC and Chairman of the local managers of the County Council Schools as well as the senior trustee of Bourne’s foundation.

A memorial to George Loader, incorporated into the wall in the former Victoria Girls’ School, states ‘In Memory of George Loader, J.P., for many years Governor of Bourne School, to whom is largely due the erection of these schools (the Victoria Schools). He died April 25th 1908 aged 68. The tablet was placed here by his fellow Managers.’

George was a staunch supporter of the Conservative Party and Honorary Secretary of the Berkhamsted and Northchurch Association for twenty- four years. He was a regular worshiper and active member of the congregation of St Peter’s, served as a sidesman and was the lay representative for some years on the Rural Diaconal Council as well as serving on the Parochial Church Council.

He was also an active member of the Church Restoration Committee which oversaw the refurbishment of St Peter’s by the architect William Butterfield. A fine stained-glass window was installed in St Catherine’s Chapel in 1909 in his memory, a depiction of St Christopher, the Christ-bearer, designed by T.F. Curtis, of the Victorian glass firm Curtis, Ward & Hughes.

His Chairmanship of the BUDC covered the period of the death of Queen Victoria, the proclamation of Edward VII as King and the arrangements for the Coronation ceremonies.

‘In spite of the inclement weather’ a wide section of the community turned out to pay their respects at his funeral. This included members of the BUDC, the RUDC, Parish Councillors, representatives of Friendly Societies members of the Fire Brigade and Bourne Scholars, Dr Fry and other masters, Sir Richard Cooper, Bart. There were about sixty wreaths.

Jenny Sherwood